Show bilida lindquist 4 mis youth murdered by hitchhikers large posse of armed citizens capture criminals preliminary hearing set for friday august 6 richfield was jolted into the ugly realization that it can happen here friday at pm ani when la coy lindquist 21 koosharem Koo sharem was brutally murdered on Rich fields main street right at the busiest time of the day by alonzo woods jr 26 and bill woods 18 hitch ing brothers from kansas city missouri who were attempting to steal Lindquis lindquiste ts car the brothers were captured two and one hall half hours later in the canal west of richfield by an armed posse of the citizenry that numbered close to who came to the aid of the hugh and cry of county sheriff clarence smith and city marshall ab hopkins preliminary hearing to be hold held friday the brothers were formally charged with murder in the first degree monday by clarence smith and after the charges were read to them in the justice court by county attorney henry E beal with justice G W coons presiding r es Iding the boys were advised of their legal rights wednesday morning in the justice court it was announced that J vernon erickson of richfield had been appointed by the court to represent the hitchhikers tile the preliminary hearing was set for i friday august 6 at 9 am and at that time the boys will undoubtedly be bound over to the districh dis trice court for trial both bolh responsible for foe death although it was the younger of the two bill who admitted that he fired the fatal shot that brought la coy lindquist to his untimely death both are equally responsible for the crime T the he death was caused in the commission of the felony of armed car theft and in the eyes of the law is the most vicious form of murder in the first degree and in utah can carry the death penalty the fact that bill woods was only 18 and thus still a minor has no bearing on what action the court will take when a capital crime has been committed the courts hold even a much younger person criminally responsible for his activity not habitual criminals according to henry henra E beal who has questioned and checked the stories of the two iwo boys the brothers are not hardened criminals and reports thus far do not show of any other en tangle ments with the i law both are fairly intelligent young men and are nervously awai awaiting tink their fate in the sevier county jail what impulse prompted these two men to plan such a violent course of activity can not be determined but at the time of their arrest they were well prepared each having a 32 automatic pistol and several hundred rounds of ammunition confession at scene As near as it can be established 1 la coy who was employed ploy edat at the western gypsum plant at sigurd was on his way to richfield for minor medical attention for his finger ife he picked the two boys up just north of redmond and between salina and aurora the felons forced la coy at gun point into the back seat the brothers claim it was there intention t to 0 take la coy on south for so some in e distance and let him out untamed unharmed and continue to phoenix with the stolen car to meet their heir father many people on both sides of thet the richfield main street and in adjacent cars saw the struggle that started in the south bound abound car just in front of bart ley ey motor comp company any when la coy oy m made ade h his is bid f for 0 r fr freedom e edom the testimony Is confusing and conflicting it appears that lacoy reached over alonzo who was driving and attempted to stop the car bill pulled the trigger and sent a slug ripping into la coys breast got janicy and jumped out of the car alonzo accelerated and braked the car and a split second later jumped out la coy made one last attempt to reach for the keys and fell back into the rear seat as the car careened into the curb in front of the neal S magleby mortuary and ironically just a few feet from lw la coys fathers car who was in richfield shopping at the time the crowd that immediately gathered was stunned a murder to them was incredible it has been 25 years since murder has been committed in the business district and they were more concerned with the than who did it marshall takes chase earl anderson was standing on the curb on the west side of the street when the murderers fled up main and around the corner comer of bartly motor and west on second north street he followed them to the corner to see which way they were heading and immediately called ab hopkins richfield city marshall who soon picked up mr anderson and they headed to the west side of town to find the culprits they were spotted going through the fields 0 on foot west of the truck route 0 on n ath west street between ath and ath south marshall hopkins took chase and sent and nn after aid mr hopkins and the murderers murdene rs exchanged shots at several hundred feet and then the boys dashed be behind hinda a hay stack it was out of the question for hopkins to go into the hay stacks grain fields and ditches to capture the men alone all he could do was keep the area under sur surveillance ilance until help arrived clarence smith arrived at the scene of the crime and immediately sent men out on road blocks and went to help hopkins excellent excelle t response man many y men upon hearing that the two murderers were loose in the west fields grabbed their sport rifles and shot guns and and dashed to assist the fire siren siren summoned additional help before the felons were captured the fields west of richfield were literally filled with hundreds of men who were out to shoot to kill at the sign of least resistance the peace officers are grateful and richfield Bich field can well be proud of a people who will come to assistance of the law so readily planes prevent escape although it was an hour and a half after the murder that organized searching of the field could be fairly safely undertaken the boys could not not move from their hiding place because two planes from the richfield airport were constantly flying over head the pilots never saw the culprits but were instrumental in keeping the boys from slipping out of the area where they were last seen order at the two scared boys were found in the willows along the canal bank a few hundred yards south of Poul sons feed yard they were discovered by lou peterson dick Beut beutler lei glen beutler and lowell bell and several others who had been following some tracks through the field and along the bank when a protruding boot seen and orders to io come come out with their hands up was given the cries of we surrender were loudly heard all the prisoners could say for their dastardly crime was were sorry the men of the posse and the urious curious c on lookers that gathered at the jau jail should be highly complimented for their rational thinking in in some other sections of the country there would undoubtedly have been vio violence lerie when the boys were captured there was no over suggesting of mob lynching lunching lyn ching but everyone was ready to see that the proper authorities carry on |